Tuesday, January 8, 2013

After losing the first engagement (The Battle of the Crossroads) in
the Alpian Wars mini-campaign, Stagonia has rebounded to win the second
conflict (Battle of the Bellevue Hills).

Position Prior to Alpia's Withdrawal

As
seen at left, Alpia (on the left) outnumbered Stagonia . . . but they
had lost over half of their force and still had to force the tree line .
. . which General Rossi felt would not leave enough to then carry on
with the invasion.

Stagonia will undoubtedly now try to
gather its forces and attempt to push Alpia back out of its territory .
. . and Alpia will almost certainly resist this effort.

I am very much enjoying this combination solo/email game with Ross Macfarlane giving orders for the Alpians and David Murdock doing likewise for the Stagonian's.

I
would therefor suggest that some others who need or prefer to play solo
games to consider recruiting some gamers from the "Net" to command the
forces on your home table via emails . . . it certainly gives an
interesting slant to things.

As Stagonia's defense of the treeline has stiffened, General Rossi of Alpia must make a decision. Although he still has more forces than General Murdeau, is it enough to carry on with this thrust toward the Bellevue Hills?

South Bridge after Deck 18

As can be seen at left, Rossi has concentrated virtually all of his remaining forces near the south bridge.

Unfortunately they either need to thread their way through the wood line in open order or slowly file over the bridge.

The "red" squadron of the Pincemail Cavalry, pushed back the Xelt regiment that they'd hit in the flank, routing it(and Brigaider Olivi) while converting their pursuit into the Picanti Swordsmen.

Sadly, after such heroics, Alpia's Qeel regiment shot thevaliant squadron down. Nevertheless the Xelts continue to rout and, like Stagonia's routing Hamoncourt regiment, do not look to rally for some time.

Goyette's marksmanship improved and they eliminated Asti Spumonti's orange squadron with a series of well-aimed volleys. And La Capelle first shot up Qeel, then charged and destroyed it to avenge the loss of the Red Squadron.

Meanwhile around the north bridge, while Alpia controls the bridge with Capt. Corelli's Light Gun, there is nothing to exploit the situation.

The lavender squadron of the the Cianti regiment has remained shaken for most of the battle despite Brigadier Lombardi's continuing unsuccessful efforts to rally them.

(note the routing Xelts (red banner) in the distance).

So the situation is this. Stagonia has three steady pike & shot units and one cavalry squadron on the east side of the treeline. Alpia has two pike & shot units, one sword unit (all somewhat damaged), two fresh knight squadrons, a light gun and one shaken cavalry squadron remaining. Each also has a routing (most likely unrecoverable) unit.

Both armies have been battered and are around half of their starting effectives . . . presumably Stagonia will continue to contest the tree line in an attempt to protect the valuable wine country on the other side of the Bellevue Hills.

Will Alpia chose to continue their assault? Or will they fall back and defend the territory they've already captured?